Every Contact Checked Before It Goes Out.

The Do Not Call Registry is a national database maintained by the government that contains a list of telephone numbers of people who request that they not receive sales calls from telemarketers. The Federal Trade Commission launched the National Do Not Call Registry in 2003 in response to the Do-Not-Call Implementation Act of 2003, which aims to protect telephone consumers' interests.

The Do-Not-Call Implementation Act is an extension of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) of 1991, which put limits on telephone solicitations. The TCPA requires telemarketing companies to have a company-specific do not call list and prohibits them from using artificial voices or automation to make telemarketer calls.

If a person adds their phone number to the registry, telemarketers and telemarketing companies have 31 days to remove them from their lists. The national registry includes cell phones and landlines, and it applies to interstate phone calls.

In other words, the registry is a list of individuals that businesses are not allowed to call. Businesses cannot contact a number on the list unless they have written permission from the consumer themselves.

Under federal law, telemarketing companies can call and make a sales pitch between 8 AM and 9 PM. Individual states have more specific restrictions — the Alabama Do Not Call list, for example, does not allow unsolicited calls on Sundays or holidays such as Christmas or Easter. Further restrictions on dates and times exist, so check the rules for each state you call.

You can register a landline or cell phone number by calling 1-888-382-1222, or submit it online at DoNotCall.gov. If you register online, you will have to validate your submission via a link sent to your email within 72 hours.

Your number should show up on the do not call list within one business day. However, businesses have 31 days to stop calling it.

Yes. You can register as many telephone numbers as you have, and many people add both their landline and cell phone numbers. There is no fee to register additional numbers.

No. Once you add your number to the do not call list, it stays there until you ask the FTC to remove it, or the number is disconnected or reassigned. If your old number is on the list, remember to register your new one — registration does not carry over.